Anyone made a rocket stove?

[TurboGirl]

I came across these at a festival n have just finished scrounging the cans to make one... before I start hacking with the tin snips, does anyone have any sage advice for me? Used one in the woods? Made one and have alternate methods or ideas? I know they burn VERY hot so aren't suitable for eg stews but thats the limit of my exxtraodinarily small wisdom on the things

 

[TurboGirl]

Actually this one is more indicative of the stove although doesnt show the principle as clearly....

 

[udamiano]

Arga's use a mineral called vermiculite as a insulator, it can also be found in Garden Centres, as its also used in gardening. might be useful in your design

 

[shaggystu]

i built one of these a few years back to use as a heater, it was fantastic. mine was filled with sand so it was way too heavy to be classed as mobile. i wouldn't consider using it as a camping stove unless i was going somewhere where i knew i'd definately have a ready source of insulation that i could find and use onsite, a beach for example. if you were going to be camping in one place for a long time you could always use ash as the insulating material, and you could always use soil if you got it from somewhere that wasn't doing any harm and you made sure it was mainly clay/sand rather than dead vegetable matter.
heat wise, you're right, they do burn really hot, but only once they're up to heat and being constantly fueled. you can regulate the temperature of these pretty well, once you've got it up to heat just keeping a few tiny embers burning away (or even letting it go out completely) and it's great for things like stews. here's how i went about making a stew on mine;
light the thing and spend ten minutes or so getting it warm
put on large kettle of water and carrying on feeding fuel into the fire 'til the kettle boils
put the kettle to one side and give the fire one last load of fuel (the stove should be hot hot by this time)
put on stew pot and let it get warm
brown meat (seasoning/oil/flour etc. i'm not gonna try and teach anyone to make a stew, there's only trouble down that path)
add some water from your kettle
throw in your veg
by now the fire should be completely out and the stove should've cooled to a little less than boiling
put the lid on
cover the whole thing with half an old oil drum to keep the heat in and leave until the smell gets too much
home-made slow cooker, superb, it stays cooking hot for a couple of hours so ideal really for things like stews, curries, soups, etc. with the oil drum over the top it also works pretty well as a bread oven

hope that helps

stuart

 

[TurboGirl]

brown meat (seasoning/oil/flour etc. i'm not gonna try and teach anyone to make a stew, there's only trouble down that path)

Brown the meat? Gosh, you heathen!! Stu, thats actually BRILLIANT, I didn't realise they could be used for a slower cook. As Udamiano suggests, I'll use some old vermiculite I've got kicking around as a glass bead insulation and treat myself to some new stuff for the hot glass and plants

I'm raising the combustion elbow to about 1/2 way up the vermiculit container to improve insulation and prevent ground scorch- it seems to fit better in the donor catering cans I got as well- but I'm going to have to watch that I still get enough combusion area. Will pop up pics when finished of course.... do you have any of yours, m8?

 

[shaggystu]

....Will pop up pics when finished of course.... do you have any of yours, m8?

i don't, sorry, i made mine back before i had a digital camera and when we moved house last time i discovered that it was made mainly of rust by that time. look forward to seeing yours when it's done, they're a great little project

stuart

 

[ged]

I made something similar with bits of scrap steel so that my Ghillie kettle could be the chimney. It will boil the water while it's cooking the sausages.

The combustion chamber is horizontal, with a flat top for cooking on directly or to keep my tin mug of tea hot.

The main thing I learned from it was that getting air to go the way you want it to go can't be taken for granted.

I think if I were to make another one I'd make it about twice as big. I'd also have the Ghillie sitting atop a short chimney, instead of forming the whole chimney, because when I take off the Ghillie there's no chimney any more. So I have to keep filling it with cold water and putting it back on which gets to be a bit of a drag.

None of these things are going to be backpacking gear IMO, but they're great fun to play with. Let us know how you get on!

 

[ged]

... I'm raising the combustion elbow to about 1/2 way up ...

I'd also consider making the feed tube enter at an angle, so that gravity takes the fuel into the combustion chamber and you don't have to keep poking it with a stick.

These things can burn quite fiercely, so some sort of air control is IMO essential.

 

[Damascus]

Made one today actually, a semi permanent affair, used 3 cans in the normal manner two upright and one for feeding.
I then placed on the ground and ringed it with sticks and lined the outer with an old dog food sack and infilled.

It lit first time and draws a good flame and quite efficient on the fuel, sorry no pic's at moment having teething problems.

 

[TurboGirl]

Well, took over HWMBO's garage, and much diverse tool abuse later, I have a warm bellyfull of soup and toast

I started out marking and using an old chisel on a round log to hammer out the marked areas, then slipped em together-

Then used a tin lid to form a stand for underneath the combustion elbow and filled it with old vermiculite (i actually snipped the top of the larger can to create 4 tabs and a bit of spread to recieve the pot side chimney can)-

It fired up, took a bit of attending to get the chimney warm and I think between ma wettish wood and the fairly short elbow, i struggled a bit

But as soon as it got hot, it got much easier- I think my sticks were too big too-

But eventually, despite being severely testicularly challenged, I got my hot soup and toast.... yayyyy! Gotta go enthuse at Bushcraft Betty on Basefook now Thank you VERY much for your advice guys =)

 

[udamiano]

there TurboGirl. impressed

 

[TurboGirl]

used 3 cans in the normal manner two upright and one for feeding.

I think this may be the root of my probs, Damascus- I have 1 instead of 2 uprights in the chimney and its affecting the draw- I might mackle up an extension can to see if it helps =) Oh and thanks soooo much, Udamiano, I had great fun, surprisingly didn't chop anything other than tin and HWMBO doesn't even know I was in there.... until till he tries to undo a phillips screw tho.... *whoops!*

Found a reply off youtube ref a garden version of the rocket stove *paste* 'The length of the burn tube needs to be three times the inside diameter of the tube for a complete clean burn and maximum heat. Anything longer creates too much draft, shorter means less burn and unburned gas escapes as smoke.' Just FYI if you're reading this pre-build